O’Neal Gives No Flat-Out Effort

On the eve of a game critical to the Lakers’ momentum and playoff positioning, and four games from the postseason, Shaquille O’Neal was kept from practice Wednesday when his car was disabled on the southbound 405 Freeway because of two flat tires, his business manager said.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson said O’Neal was not excused and that he would be fined.

Mike Parris said he received a telephone call from O’Neal at 10:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the Lakers were to begin a light day of watching film and discussing strategies for the Sacramento Kings, whom they play tonight at Staples Center. O’Neal was agitated, Parris said, because of the flat tires and because no one was available at his Beverly Hills home to deliver a second car.

Parris said O’Neal made the decision to stay with the car -- one of his SUVs, Parris thought -- until a tow truck arrived, at which time he returned home.

Parris said he tried several telephone numbers at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo and was unable to reach Jackson or trainer Gary Vitti. He then spoke to public relations director John Black, who was told O’Neal would not attend practice, a message relayed to Jackson.

“That isn’t an excuse,” Jackson said. “You find another car. He’s got plenty of them here.

“It bothers me.”

In the past two seasons, O’Neal has been fined three times for unexcused absences. Early last season, he took an extra day to be with his newborn daughter. This season, he accompanied his pregnant wife, Shaunie, to a medical appointment.

O’Neal said then that he expected Laker management to trust him. Jackson said then that O’Neal should have called him or made other arrangements. It blew over, as have all of their tiffs.

By early Wednesday afternoon, as a few players shot jumpers in the gym and others headed to a charity event, Jackson said he was unhappy with O’Neal’s inability to find a way to practice but that he wasn’t livid.

“I think we know Shaq well enough to know it’s not a disappointing thing with Shaquille, but it’s something we wanted to do as a team, to kind of push ourselves a little bit at this time, to create a playoff atmosphere for ourselves,” Jackson said. “So, that’s a little bit of a setback for us.

“We certainly know Sacramento well enough. There are some [offensive] things we didn’t do last time we played them I really wanted to emphasize today.”